Can sealing machine



April 3, 1934. s. G. GORSLINE CAN SEALING MACHINE Filed Jan. 7, 1932 Patented Apr. 3, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT QFF'ICE CAN SEALING MACHINE Application January 7, 1932, Serial No. 585,237

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to can sealers having to do with that mechanism of the sealer which may be used for refianging a used can.

In household canning in which tin cans are used a substantial portion of the cost of the canning is the cost of the cans. The primary object of the present invention is the provision of apparatus whereby a used can may be reflanged and utilized over again repeatedly.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art upon understanding the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawing. It is to be understood,

however, that this disclosure is for illustrative purposes only and is not to be construed as unnecessarily limiting the scope of the appended claim.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of a can sealing machine with the base plate and a portion of its supporting apparatus shown in cross section;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a base plate with a reflanging member in place;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in cross section showing a different sized reflanging plate for a larger can;

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the chuck plate; and

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of a lug which is used for starting the flange in the seamed portion of the can.

As appears from Fig. 1, the device comprises a can sealing machine having a base 11, an upright portion 12 upon which is supported the can seaming apparatus, and a supporting member 13 for holding the base plate and its associated apparatus.

The can seaming mechanism will only be described in a general manner for the reason that the construction of the seaming mechanism is not of particular importance so far as the reflanging mechanism is concerned. A detailed description of said seaming mechanism, however, and the operation thereof is described and claimed in my application entitled Can sealing machine filed concurrently herewith.

It will be observed, however, that the seaming mechanism includes a crank 14 which is turned to operate gears to revolve the chuck plate 15. Seaming rollers 16 are provided which are spindled at 17 and operated through a cam arrangement at 18 to cause the seaming rollers to engage the can and seal the top thereon when the device is utilized as a can seaming machine.

The machine is mounted on the base member 11 which may be secured to the top of a bench or table 19 by means of a clamp member 20.

A base plate 21 for receiving the reflanging member is rotatably mounted on a spindle 22. The spindle 22 is provided with a sleeve 23 that is journaled in the supporting member 13 so as to hold the same upright. The top portion of the supporting member 13 is shaped in the form of a cam and a correspondingly shaped cam lever 24 is mounted thereon so that by rotation of the cam lever 24 the base plate 21 is raised or lowered.

A bearing member 25 is secured to the spindle 22 directly below the base plate 21 to provide a bearing surface for the spacer members 28. A spring member 26, located between the bearing member 25 and the top of the cam lever 24, is used when the machine is employed as a can seaming machine to give resiliency to the support of the base plate 21. However, when the machine is employed for the purpose of reflanging cans the spacer member 27 is of sufiicient height so that the bearing member 25 is rigidly supported and the spring has no effect in the operation.

The spacer member or washer 28 is inserted below the base plate 21 and the bearing member 25 when the machine is used for refianging, the washer 28 being of the proper thickness to adjust the height of the base plate 21 when reflanging different height cans or cans upon which the reflanging operation has previously been performed and part of the metal cut away.

The base plate 21 is provided with a plurality of circular grooves 29 which are of the proper diameter to receive cans of various widths. A reflanging member 30 is mounted on the top of the base plate 21 and interfits with a circular groove 29. The refianging member 30 is provided at its periphery with a downwardly and outwardly entering flanged portion which, on the top side, is shaped to impart the desired shaped flange to the open end of a can.

The peripheral edge 31 of the reflanging member is thinner than the side walls of the groove 29 as appears from the details shown in Fig. 3 so that when a can is being reflanged, as shown in Fig. 3, the side wall of the groove acts as a stop against which the edge of the can abuts when the reflanging operation is completed.

A central opening 32 is provided in the reflanging member 30 to permit the same to be grasped by the fingers for removal from the base plate 21.

The chuck plate 15, shown in detail in Fig. 5, is removable so that a different size chuck plate may be substituted for it for use with various sizes of cans. As appears in this detailed view 19 a spindle 37 is attached to the center of the chuck plate and extends upwardly into the head 38 and is journaled in both the lower portion 39 and the upper portion 40 of said head. The chuck plate is held in place by a gear 41 which seats between the upper and lower portions of the head and is secured to the spindle 3'7 by a set screw 42. Thus the spindle 37 is prohibited from axial movement.

To change chuck plates the set screw 42 is loosened and the chuck plate and spindle removed and a different size chuck plate with a spindle thereon is inserted in its place. A detailed description of the head 38 will be found in my application above referred to.

As shown in detail in Fig. 6, a stud 33 is provided, which stud may be used as one of the securing lugs such as 34. The stud 33 has a threaded portion 35 which screw-threads into the frame of the machine and a deep slot 36 which is used to receive a seamed portion of the can to bend it outwardly before starting the refianging operation as hereinafter described.

In the use of the device for reflanging a can, the seam of the can is inserted in the slot 36 of the stud 33 and the body of the can is moved so as to flange the seamed portion slightly outward. The base of the can is then placed against the chuck plate 15 and with the reflanging member 30 in place the cam lever 24 is rotated to bring the reflanging member 30 into contact with the open end of the can. The rotation of the lever 24 is then continued and the refianging member 30 is forced into the can so that the edges thereof are curled outwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, until they come in contact with the rib 37. The cam lever 24 is then rotated in the opposite direction and the reflanging member 30 is removed therefrom.

Due to the fact that the base plate 21 is rotatably mounted on the spindle 22 there need be no rotary movement of the can during the reflanging operation. This is an advantage over those types of reflangers in which a rotary movement occurs since a more regular and perfectly formed flange results, for in the rotary type of flangers the flanging head will frequently wear off a portion of the enamel or other protective coating which is applied to the inside of most cans now commonly in use. Due to the fact that the edge of the can abuts against the ribs 37 when the flange has been completed there is positive assurance of a perfectly formed flange and that it will be of the proper breadth. This is a particularly desirable feature for the reason that an imperfectly flanged can will result in an improper seal when a new top is placed upon the can.

Since the refianged can is of slightly less height than the new cans or cans that have not been refianged, when the can is inserted in the ma chine for the purpose of sealing it, an additional washer of the proper thickness is inserted between the spring 26 and the bearing 28. As this washer is of conventional form it is, therefore, not shown in the drawing.

I claim:

In a can sealing machine the combination of a chuck plate, a base plate, said base plate being provided with an annular groove, a separable can fianging member adapted to seat in said groove, the peripheral edge of said can flanging member being thinner than the depth of said groove, and means for moving said base plate toward said chuck plate and forcing said can fianging member into the open end of a can.

SAMUEL G. GORSLIN'E. 

